Coloring thermoplastic material



Feb. 16, 1932 1,845,457

J. F. WALSH ET AL COLORING THERMOPLASTIC MATERIAL File'd Nov. 24, 1928 IN VENTORJ.

/M ymfmm Patented Feb. 16, 1932 JAMES F. WAL$H, OF EAST ORANGE, AND

GELLULOID GOBPQEATION, A COREOBATION OF NEW JERSEY JERSEY, ASSIGNORS "0 WILTJIAIVI. IBOWKER, OF -NEWARK, NEW

, COLORING THERMOIPLASTIC MATmIATJ Application filed. November '24, 1928.

Our invention relates to thermo-plasticmaterial, such coloration of as pyroxylin jects the provision of means a novel effect in such for obtaining coloration and the product resulting from the employment of such means. More specifically,

aims to produce an optical the invention 7 effect in imitation of the discontinuous transparency of cracked ice resulting from manifold fractures within the mass.

To the above andother ends which will subsequently appear,

our invention resides in the features hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. l is a side elevation of a celluloid at one stage or step process;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of second or advanced stage; and

sheet of in our novel the sheet at a Figs. 3 and 4 are respectively fragmentary sectional and plan views illustrating certain of the results obtained by the invention.

In carrying out the invention, in order to obtain the desired results,

make the material in two parts,

transparent, the other slightly it 7 is preferred to one quite clouded, and

to blend them incompletely in suitable proportions by any suitable means, such as the usual mixing rolls.

The object of this particoloring or incomplete blending is to create a basic coloration or configuration of lively appearance in itse The roll-made sheet so produced is then painted on one loidal suspension of suitable side with a compatible colpigment, s ay zinc oxide for whitish efiects, or pearl essence when an iridescent mineral is This layer of pigmentation is uted irregularly or the mass, as by passing the through corrugated rolls, in a to be copied. then distrib interruptedly throughout rough sheets way to avoid complete mixing while producing the necessary agglomeration of broken parts.

This

is best accomplished by placing the painted surface against the unpainted surface of another sheet, thus forming a with the color layer inside,

double sheet 7 which double Serial No. 321,596.

action.

At this point the plain calender rolls are also brought into action, the plan being not only to break the painted sheets, preferably doubled as described, into small sections but also to roll out the resultant mass into fairly smooth layers of about one-half inch thickness to be subsequently amalgamated into blocks for planing or final sheet formation. To complete the shatter-crack or cracked ice effect, however, step into the process, that of a positive sectional formation to approximate more closely the discontinuous fracture-like structural pattern or appearance which it is desired to reproduce. This middle step consists of making numerous irregular cuts or separations in the rolled sheet, each cut representing a crack in an ice mass which is produced therein by rupture. These cuts in the roughrolled'sheet are then made of permanent appearance by painting with the pigmented colloid vehicle (preferably a collodion) used in the first step of the color preparation.

The whole mass of rolled sheets of variegated internal coloration broken by incisions surfaced with pigmented varnish is now solidified,as in the usual block press by means of heat and pressure, and after solidification may be sliced into sections of demanded thickness or cut into rods ofany desired gauge. p

Various stages in the above described process are illustrated in the drawings. Thus Fig. 1 shows in side elevation a sheet 10 of thermoplastic material as it comes from the mixing rolls. This sheet, as stated, is made of two kinds of material,-one transparent and one slightlycloudecl so as to create a lively basic coloration. The shaded portions 11 are intended to represent the "clouded portions as indicatedas 13, making two sections, 10

and 10 Said sections lO and 10 are then placed with their painted surfaces 12 in contact as illustrated in Fig. 2, and are passed through the corrugated rolls.

Fig. 3 illustrates the sheet after the cor rugated roll action thereon, the marks 12 representing the painted surface 12 broken up and irregularly distributed through the mass. In order to avoid confusion, the shading 11, representing the clouded portions in Figs. 1 and 2, has been omitted in Fig. 3.

In Fig. 4. is illustrated a fragmentary plan view showing cuts 14 in the mottled, corrugated, rolled sheet, these cuts or lines being painted, as described, to'suggestcracks in ice. In Fig. 4 the shaded portions 11 and the marks l2 resulting from the corrugated roll action are the cracked ice, so called, showing.

By following the described process, it is possible to obtain attractive patterns based on the cracked-ice appearance and capable of variable color effects and details of design.

To make a contrasting color in the fracture a colored pigment may be substituted for the white pigment, or a soluble color or dye applied in solution form over the whitepigment or any portion thereof to produce a white or any number of colored effects in fractures or portions of same, the functioning of white pigment being to give a greater solidity to the color effect.

Any suitable formulae for the thermoplastic material and the colloidal agent for the pigment may be employed in carrying out the invention. It is to be noted, however, that the process employs pigments, as distinguished from dyes which would dissolve in the celluloidal mass or colloidal solution.

The invention comprehends the production of cracked-ice effects (or similar internally broken structure in a transparent plastic) even though colored in a way that only suggests cracked-ice in shattered-like structure; for though ice is colored only by accident, its usual colorless appearance may be varied from by design. and without departing from the principle of the invention.

The term thermoplastic material as used herein means any composition having a transparent plastic base whether formed of pyroxylin, cellulose acetate, or other colloid which produces a solid transparent mass subject to coloration and manipulation in imitation of natural substances or patterns. We have operated successfully with a compound of pyroxylin. While preferably a rolled sheet is used for surface painting, one that is produced by slicing from a block or made by any other suitable method may be employed.

lVhat we claim is l 1. The method of producing optical effects in a substantially transparent plastic com-' position, which consists in pigmentizing the surface of a sheet, breaking up or corrugatmg the sheet, smoothing the mass into sheets,

omitted to promote clarity in cutting or incising such sheets to produce fresh surfaces, painting said fresh surfaces, and, finally, solidifying the whole into forms suitable for fabrication.

2. The method of producing optical effects in a substantially transparent plastic composition having a cellulosic derivative base, which consists in pigmentizing the surface of a sheet of such composition, breaking up or corrugating the sheet, smoothing the mass into sheets of coherent structure, cutting or incising such sheets to produce fresh surfaces, painting said fresh surfaces with pigment, and, finally, solidifying the whole into forms suitable for fabrication.

3. The method of producing optical effects in a substantially transparent plastic composition having a pyroxylin base, which consists in pigmentizing the surface of a sheet of such composition, breaking up or corrugating the sheet, smoothing the mass into sheets of coherent structure, cutting or incising such sheets to produce fresh surfaces, painting said fresh surfaces with pigment, and, finally, solidifying the whole into forms suitable for fabrication.

4. The method of producing cracked ice effects in a substantially transparent plastic composition, which comprises pigmentizing the surface of a rolled sheet, breaking up or corrugating the same, smoothing the resultant mass into sheets, cutting or incising such sheets to produce fresh surfaces, painting the said surfaces with pigment, and then solidifying the whole into blocks suitable for separation into sheets or rods.

5. The method of producing cracked ice effects in asubstantially transparent pyroxylin composition, which comprises pigmentizing the surface of a rolled sheet, breaking up or corrugating the same, smoothing the resultant mass into sheets, cutting or incising such sheets to produce fresh surfaces, painting the said surfaces with pigment, and then solidifying the whole into blocks suitable for separation into sheets or rods.

6. The method of producing a discontinuous fracture-like pattern in a substantially transparent plastic composition, which consists in separating the mass into parts, pigmentizing the resultant surfaces to correspond with fractures in transparent natural substances of like appearance, solidifying into a whole, incising the same at predetermined portions, applying a pigment to such incisions, working up the mass on the rolls and separating the resultant solid into suitable parts. j

7. The production of a discontinuous fracture-like pattern in a substantially transparent, parti-colored plastic composition having a cellulosic derivative base by cut ting, breaking or otherwise forming the mass into multi-sectional-parts, applying a pigment to the newly made resultant surfaces to correspond With shatter-cracks or separations in ice or like transparent natural substances,' solidifying the Whole into a block or equivalent form, and cutting parts from said form.

8. A substantially transparent composition of a cellulose derivative base having pigments of contrasting color incorporated therein and presenting discontinuous shatter-crack and'flocculent effects.

9. A substantially transparent composition of a cellulose derivative base having opaque pigments of contrastin color incorporated therein and presenting discontinuous shatter-crack and flocculated effects.

10. A substantially transparent composition of a cellulose derivative base having White mottled effects having discontinuous cracks containing opaque pigments presenting shatter-crack efiects. I

JAMES F. WALSH. WILLIAM BOWKER. 

